Designer Aphra Hallam has created the Zera Cooling Crescent, a wearable machine designed to alleviate the new flushes girls can expertise throughout menopause.
The Zera Cooling Crescent is created from reusable silicone and aluminium, and was designed to stay comfortably to the again of the neck.
The machine makes use of thermoelectric expertise to create a cool sensation that tackles the new flushes that individuals can expertise throughout menopause.
The expertise works through a thermal management machine known as a Peltier module, which works by making use of a voltage between two electrodes and is linked to an aluminium strip.
The module cools the steel strip and targets the pores and skin’s blood vessels, which helps the consumer calm down when having a scorching flush.
“Putting one thing cool on the again of your neck is without doubt one of the only methods to shortly calm down the physique; utility of the machine right here permits it to ship the cooling efficiently and effectively,” Hallam informed Dezeen.
The machine is managed through an app, additionally known as Zera, permitting customers to regulate it all through the day. This features a monitoring characteristic that allows girls to trace their menopause signs.
The crescent form of the design was chosen because it considers the contours and actions of the human physique, permitting the Zera Cooling Crescent to take a seat comfortably on the again of the neck.
The position can be to make sure that it may be hidden underneath a shirt collar or underneath hair “to present girls the boldness to put on it day by day”.
The machine is charged through a conveyable charging case that may be stored discretely in a bag, leaving it prepared to make use of when the signs seem.
Hallam mentioned she was additionally “on a mission to incorporate a spread of darker pores and skin tones” as a part of the design course of. The product is available in a spread of pores and skin tones and goals to handle the racial disparities in reproductive ageing.
“By my analysis, I additionally found how menopause signs have an effect on girls of various races disproportionately, one thing which isn’t all the time highlighted in analysis and symptom options,” Hallam mentioned.
“As a Black lady, I additionally felt it was essential to have the ability to spotlight this, while nonetheless designing one thing that was accessible to all girls,” she added.
The challenge additionally goals to spotlight how though there’s an abundance of analysis on menopause, it’s not typically used to create options for signs.
Hallam says her machine can be utilized day after day to “give girls within the menopause the power to go about on a regular basis life comfortably and confidently”.
The Zera app additionally features a group house that options weblog posts, supportive chat rooms and informative articles written by varied consultants within the well being sector, giving girls the chance to have interaction with others additionally going by means of menopause.
Different initiatives on Dezeen that intention to deal with menopause are an idea for a menopausal therapy known as Luma that makes use of AI to develop drugs to assist alleviate customers’ signs and a wristband for that’s designed to manage and alleviate scorching flushes.
